Tech Is Charlie, Hackers Are Charlie

Tech Is Charlie, Hackers Are Charlie

Yesterday a terrorist attack in Paris took the lives of at least twelve persons, including many journalists and cartoonists of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, “guilty” of informing and entertaining the public.

Science and technology advance with free information, free inquiry, and free dissent. In a healthy society that can provide a fertile ground for science and the development of new technologies, everyone must be free to express their dissent by whatever non-violent means, including satire.

History shows that important scientific advances, paradigm shifts, and revolutionary new technologies are often developed by free spirits who don’t respect authority, question everything, and aren’t afraid to throw stones at sacred cows. It can be argued that the success of the Western civilization, as far as scientific and technical progress is concerned, started with society’s reaction against the secular power of the Church. The Inquisition burned Giordano Bruno – but they couldn’t burn Newton.

I am not unconditionally supportive of our Western civilization, and I regret our past – and present – harmful actions against the rest of the world. But our civilization has developed the concept of a secular society with civil rights, freedom of thought, information, non-violent dissent, and satire. That’s what the terrorists want to take away, and that’s what we must preserve.

Hackers Are Charlie

Hackers have a playful and irreverent spirit. They play with everything, make fun of everything, and by doing so, they create the future. The Internet was conceived as a government project, but it was developed by those who started playing with computers and software to see what cool things could be done. Today’s biohackers, neurohackers, crypto-enthusiasts and tinkerers in the Western world, relatively free from the power of organized religions, are creating tomorrow’s technologies. It is important that they remain free to do so.

Images from Wikimedia and Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

Rate this post:

Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

13 Comments

Bitcoins and Gravy

January 8, 2015 at 7:00 pm

You wrote: “But our civilization has developed the concept of a secular society with civil rights, freedom of thought, information, non-violent dissent, and satire. That’s what the terrorists want to take away, and that’s what we must preserve.”

I agree but the big question is this: Who ARE the terrorists?
In my opinion, the top 3 are: The CIA, the Mossad, M15/M17

How many terrorist plots and attacks have these organizations coordinated? The answer is: we don’t know but we know they’re responsible for many “false flag” operations around the world that have caused irreparable damage and much suffering.

So before you go chasing ghosts or windmills or whatever the TV tells you is the new “Threat Du Jour”, maybe do a little reading OUTSIDE the mainstream media bull and find out what other people in the world are saying. Find out if some of these “terrorist attacks” might not be exactly what the television is telling you they are.

Considering the fact that our TV’s and Radios are chock full of misinformation and propaganda these days, is it really that hard to believe that much of what you read on “Yahoo! News” is also propaganda? Hey people your opinions are what some people want to change and control. Bottom line: Don’t let anyone control how or what you think.
Right?

Think about it. Which is potentially more threatening and more dangerous:
1) poorly funded, uneducated middle eastern nut cases?

2) Well funded, well trained counter intelligence experts with military training and backing and the freedom to go anywhere and do anything without being seen or noticed or held accountable?

Yes terrorism is real and yes there are middle eastern terrorists. But there are also well funded movements underway that are working really, really hard to make us hate Muslims. Sorry folks, I’m not buying into it. If you are one who IS buying into it, then you might consider watching a bit less television. Just a thought.

As is true with any group – 80% of the Muslims in this world are good people who want the same things anyone wants – food, clothing, affordable housing, a living wage, etc for themselves and their families. Most Muslims don’t spend all their time reading the Quran anymore than I sit around reading passages from the Old Testament. The Muslims I’ve known own corner stores in every major city, have wives and children, houses, mortgages or rent to pay and the same “life is a struggle bullshit” that we all have to put up with.

Also, the majority of Muslims condemn violence and terrorism. Most Muslims practice peace just as most Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc. practice peace. The people who are trying to convince us that THE MAJORITY of Muslims are bad are themselves the terrorists. Without any statistics on their side, without any proof on their side, with poorly gathered anecdotal evidence floating in a sea of patchwork quilt events, false flag operations and pure fantasy, Big Brother and his goons want me to hate a massively large group of people – Muslims. This is the most ridiculous, childish game I’ve seen since half the American public were DUPED into believing Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the the Twin Towers and Building #7.

This Western attempt to demonize all Muslims is by far the sickest and scariest thing I’ve seen the media put on in many years.

Why do so many otherwise intelligent people believe everything they hear on the news?
Why should I believe that the murders in Paris were REALLY committed by angry Muslims? Because the TV tells me so? Isn’t it possible that this was another false flag operation aimed at getting more people on board the “I hate Muslims” train?

I’m not saying it was a false flag operation. I’m simply stating the fact that corporate owned and government influenced networks and news programs put out A LOT of propaganda each year. And therefore I’m being intelligent in asking the question: Am I to believe what I hear on the news or could the reality be different than what is being broadcast?

Yes but let’s act civilized about it shall we? Most civil unrest in the world is now aimed at the banking cartel and market manipulation like we see with the Wall Street gambling mob. Most civil unrest is aimed at the multitudes of elected officials who abuse their office, take bribes as often as they can and basically float around like pirates with their trusy rusty moral compasses that haven’t pointed truthwards since they were children.

Most civil unrest is due to the fact that people in power cheat and lie and steal and manipulate and coerce and subjugate and imprison and kill.

Really it’s time to rise up and rid the world of the fascist power mongers. But we can’t. We’re busy. I’ve got a podcast to edit tonight; Margaret is watching her favorite sit com; David is busy playing war games in his parents’ basement; Ron and Jessica are down at the pub getting blitzed; Stephanie and Diane are busy planning their shopping trip for tomorrow; Derek, Bruce and Mark are watching the big game tonight; Phil has a report due tomorrow for work; Mary has a paper due for her class; Marcel is surfing the net in search of the perfect restaurant and everyone else is on facebook pretending like they have hundreds of close friends who would do anything for them.

panem et circenses.

Does anyone know what that means?

We are being appeased en mass so that we don’t rise up en mass and overtake those who are abusing their positions and their power. We ought to be busy collecting feathers and stockpiling barrels of tar. We ought to be busy building sturdy scaffolding in the village squares of the world and learning to tie a good noose with hemp rope. We ought to be busy digging trenches deep and wide and getting the bulldozers fueled and oiled and ready to move.

But I’ve got a podcast to edit. I’ve got tea to make with honey. I’ve got to brave the elements and drive my car down the way for a bowl of soup for dinner. l’ve got to get into my cozy bed at midnight after kissing my dog Max goodnight. And then I’ve got to sleep. And with any luck I’ll have a nice dream. Maybe I’ll dream about finding treasure or living in a palace or having a beautiful girlfriend or flying too high in my own private jet airplane.

I don’t disagree with the spirit of your comment. At the same time, it’s difficult and probably impossible to “act civilized” when they are shooting at you – you either shoot back or die.

Think of a wolf – it doesn’t want to eat you because it is bad, but because it is hungry, which is a perfectly understandable motivation. So you can understand and even empathize with the wolf. But you still must shoot it if you want to stay alive.

Of course, we should act civilized _before_ being attacked (for example, by feeding the wolf). But when the wolf jumps at you it’s too late for acting civilized.

Again, I don’t disagree. But look, we are shooting at them and that’s a fact, but they are shooting at us and that’s also a fact. I wish to see an end to this insanity, but how do we end it? I am afraid that we can’t unilaterally stop shooting. That is not a viable option at this point – they would only shoot more.

I don’t have the magical solution, but I am sure the solution is not voting to far-right parties that want to end immigration and send Muslims back to their countries. And it’s not forbidding them to have their own culture, closing mosques and not allowing headscarves in French schools. The only solution viable in the long term is living peacefully together – the world is only getting ‘smaller’ from now on. And seriously, a 3rd world war would be the last of this planet.

Giulio Prisco

January 13, 2015 at 9:51 am

I agree, but my point is that if we stop shooting they will just shoot more. It’s too late to be nice, we should have been nice since decades ago. Now, they just hate us and want to kill us. It takes two to be peaceful.

So why not spend those billions in something more useful… Why not build schools in the middle east, instead of building hate like it’s being done now? Why not give them all access to internet? Or even food. For sure that would change the western world’s image and lessen the hate.

Leave a Reply

Is Manipulation Behind Bitcoin Cash’s Absurd Rally?

Although you wouldn’t know it by today’s prices, bitcoin cash (BCH) has topped the crypto market leader board this month. The digital currency more than doubled over the span of 18 days, and in doing so far outpaced the broader market. But a closer examination of the value drivers suggest manipulation could be partly responsible for the rally.

As a reminder, the author has no vested interest in smearing BCH as I believe it to be one of the more advantageous coins on the market today. That said, the circumstances surrounding the most recent rally are peculiar to say the least.

What’s Up with Bitcoin.com?

A Hacked user informed me earlier this week that Bitcoin.com has been using the “BCH” ticker next to the word “bitcoin”. Normally, the ticker “BTC” is reserved for bitcoin, which is the original blockchain we all know about. Instead, the website quotes “BTC” next to the term “bitcoin core”.

In other words, BCH is quoted next to bitcoin and BTC is referred to as bitcoin core. See here for yourself:

For most readers of Hacked, the distinction is easily discernible, but for new traders the difference isn’t easily gauged.

The first question I have is, how many people bought bitcoin (BCH) thinking they were receiving actual bitcoin (BTC)?

Bitcoin.com describes itself as the “premier source for everything bitcoin.” Although the website doesn’t appear to offer a full-fledged trading platform, users can purchase bitcoin and bitcoin cash using the following link.

It is unclear how long the website has been referring to BCH as bitcoin. For those of us who’ve been following the market for some time, the way BTC and BCH are quoted is certainly strange.

Antpool

A large cryptocurrency mining group by the name of Antpool has also been accused of pumping BCH in recent weeks. The pool announced about six days ago that it is responsible for confirming more than 8% of all bitcoin cash transactions. In addition to confirming those, Antpool is also said to be burning BCH on a daily basis in order to reduce supply and boost prices.

Of course, crypto pumps do not require such elaborate setups to achieve their goals. Pump-and-dumps can be orchestrated rather easily through a chat group on social media. But Antpool does have a large and privileged position in the BCH ecosystem, which has raised suspicion over its recent actions.

Bitcoin Cash is Overbought, According to Tom Lee

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee recently weighed in on the bitcoin cash phenomenon, concluding that the cryptocurrency was overbought. In his view, investors should stick with bitcoin if they had a choice between Core and Cash.

“I prefer not to pick winners and losers when we’re looking at cryptocurrencies like bitcoin/bitcoin Cash… Both have merits but if I was putting new money to work today… I would be a lot more interested in buying a lagger that could attract inflows rather than something that’s potentially overbought.”

Bitcoin cash added around $1,000 to its value between Apr. 6 and 23, with prices peaking near $1,600. The cryptocurrency corrected sharply lower on Wednesday and was still declining as of Thursday’s early-morning session. At the time of writing, BCH/USD was down 4.6% at $1,268.

Disclaimer: The author owns bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. He holds investment positions in the coins, but does not engage in short-term or day-trading.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

Rate this post:

Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (8 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

4.5 stars on average, based on 410 rated postsSam Bourgi is Chief Editor to Hacked.com, where he specializes in cryptocurrency, economics and the broader financial markets. Sam has nearly eight years of progressive experience as an analyst, writer and financial market commentator where he has contributed to the world's foremost newscasts.

JP Morgan Chase & Co has been hit with a class-action lawsuit by cryptocurrency traders over allegations of unannounced fees and higher interest rates on purchases of digital currencies. Though the allegations have not been proven, extra fees are a tactic routinely employed by traditional banking institutions. In the case of JP Morgan, this has karma written all over it given the way its chief executive has ridiculed digital assets by associating them with fraud.

Class Action Lawsuit

Traders from across the United States are seeking statutory damages of $1 million for unannounced interest charges and fees on cryptocurrency transactions between January and February of this year. The named plaintiff in the lawsuit is Brady Tucker, an Idaho resident who paid a total of $163.91 in fees and surprise interest charges over a six-day stretch.

According to information obtained by Reuters, the lawsuit accuses the bank of violating the U.S. Truth in Lending Act, a piece of legislation that requires credit card issuers to inform customers in writing of any notable change in fees.

The lawsuit asserts that Tucker tried to resolve the dispute by calling Chase’s customer support service directly. His request was turned down, prompting him to seek legal help. According to Bloomberg, the case in question is Tucker v. Chase Bank USA NA, 18-cv-3155, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

The Growing Case for Decentralization

Depending on who you ask, the allegations against JP Morgan are akin to cryptocurrency fraud not unlike the kind Jamie Dimon talked about while ridiculing bitcoin. But the irony in Dimon’s comments extend far beyond Chase’s latest dealings.

As the actions of Chase bank and other financial institutions have clearly demonstrated over the years, those who control the size and growth rate of fiat money cannot be trusted to do the right thing. As Nassim Taleb argues in The Black Swan, banks have a tendency of losing as much money as they make in the long run due to shady business practices and high-risk ventures. Decisions like these are easy when you are Too Big to Fail.

Decentralization, like the kind advocated by blockchain startups and cryptocurrencies, allows users to trade directly with each other without having to go through a (predatory) middleman. Decentralized systems not only help participants avoid unnecessary fees, red tape and other forms of unwanted intervention, they are virtually impossible to shut down. In this vein, decentralized currencies give people a fighting chance in their battle against never-ending inflation. As we’ve argued before, this is not only a prudent fight, but a noble one as well.

Cryptocurrencies that rely on decentralization offer society a unique value proposition unlike anything we’ve seen in recent history. What’s more, their adoption is not contingent upon us leaving the realm of traditional finance – at least, not yet. That’s because cryptocurrency started off as an obscure and esoteric asset class but has since become a value store for investors. Tomorrow, it will become a viable medium of exchange accepted worldwide.

That said, we are still in the very early days of the crypto revolution and it may be a while still before we can conclusively prove people like Dimon wrong. But crypto backers and investors should take comfort in knowing that big banks rarely lead in disruption these days. They have the resources to play catch-up, which they are clearly doing with blockchain.

Disclaimer: The author owns bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. He holds investment positions in the coins, but does not engage in short-term or day-trading.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

Rate this post:

Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

4.5 stars on average, based on 410 rated postsSam Bourgi is Chief Editor to Hacked.com, where he specializes in cryptocurrency, economics and the broader financial markets. Sam has nearly eight years of progressive experience as an analyst, writer and financial market commentator where he has contributed to the world's foremost newscasts.

Will Dash Be the Bitcoin Killer?

Well, it has finally happened. We’ve gone a full week with crypto prices showing positive returns. OMG, what a big surprise; ether is leading the pack, advancing nearly 15% at the time of this writing. This is encouraging because it shows that perhaps finally value investors are stepping in and helping set a pricing bottom.

It hasn’t hurt a bit that stock and bond market investors have become seasick from all the volatility. Suddenly, a tiny little weekly Litecoin move of +0.46% or even a 2.47% bitcoin cash gain, looks like pure serenity.

For a while now our focus has been on relative value and there is very little argument that, after the first quarter price collapse, a whole lot of risk has been taken out of bitcoin, ether, Ripple and thousands of others.

The question is where to go and what to go with from here. The big crypto names are the safe way to go in the short run, but each has become mired in network limitations on scaling and the concomitant cost issues.

Yes, transaction fees have dropped like a stone from their prohibitively high levels of December but then transaction volumes have fallen by half and more. That is not the stuff an investor wants to see.

Both bitcoin and Ethereum hope to solve scaling issues with the Lightning Network and Raiden. But for now, if transaction volume were to suddenly rise, the same network limitations would be there. So even though the big crypto names offer the safest short term options, does that mean we shouldn’t look further out to find value?

Will Dash Solve Bitcoin’s Problem?

Dash emerged last year as one of the most popular and most valuable altcoins. At the time it was considered a real competitor to bitcoin and the leading cryptocurrency of the future. The price of Dash increased from $11 to over $1,430. Dash had a capitalization of over $11 billion at its December peak. Since then it has tumbled more than 80%. Is now the time to move into Dash? The timing could be very good but before making that decision, we should consider a few things.

Judgement Time

If a jury of its peers were to grade Dash on its performance in 2017, the majority would say it lived up to its billing. Using Dash, users could send money instantly using the InstaSend feature that allowed for complete anonymity. At the peak, transaction costs were around $0.60, which were dwarfed by bitcoin’s high of $30.

Since then, Dash fees have fallen to about $0.20, making them attractive for small sized transactions. All alone this represents a compelling feature of Dash. Add to that the immediacy of InstaSend and you have the makings of a genuine challenge to Bitcoin.

Caveat Emptor

In appraising Dash’s performance it is useful to look at Metcalfe’s Law, which values social media assets based on a formula of network size. For Dash, it’s network is processing a tiny fraction of bitcoin’s. The limitations of its network have very likely not yet been tested, so proclaiming Dash the speed king is a bit early. There is still a larger issue to consider.

In the case of Metcalfe’s Law we need to include merchants and other service providers that accept Dash as payment. That is the big hump for them to overcome before overturning bitcoin. So far, after all, bitcoin is accepted by only about 10,000 or so merchants.

Further progress by bitcoin is stymied by transaction costs that remain far too high. Even so look at how many years it has taken bitcoin to attract merchants. Dash faces the same hurdles.

In other words, the trick for Dash is the find a way to gain mass acceptance quickly. That is when the huge $11 billion valuation of last December will begin to be justified. Look over your shoulder bitcoin – faster, lower cost competition is looking to eat your lunch. Dash could be one of those.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

Rate this post:

Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

4.4 stars on average, based on 76 rated postsJames Waggoner is a veteran Wall Street analyst and hedge fund manager who has spent the past few years researching the fintech possibilities of cryptocurrencies. He has a special passion for writing about the future of crypto.

A part of CCN

Hacked.com is Neutral and Unbiased

Hacked.com and its team members have pledged to reject any form of advertisement or sponsorships from 3rd parties. We will always be neutral and we strive towards a fully unbiased view on all topics. Whenever an author has a conflicting interest, that should be clearly stated in the post itself with a disclaimer. If you suspect that one of our team members are biased, please notify me immediately at jonas.borchgrevink(at)hacked.com.